The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : “Chennai cleaner than north Indian cities”

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Saturday, Feb 09, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

“Chennai cleaner than north Indian cities”

K. Manikandan

Parliamentary team visits southern suburbs

Spot visit: Members of the Parliamentary panel inspecting the construction of houses in Kundrathur on Friday.

TAMBARAM: After a visit to some of the projects being implemented in the suburban areas of the city, the Chairman of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development said Chennai was cleaner than many other cities in the north.

Mohammad Salim, chairman of the committee, told The Hindu that every major city and urban town in the country had its own problems as nothing had been done to address them all these years. The Centre has attached a lot of importance to address these issues, with schemes such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

His committee was interested in analysing issues related to quality of life in large cities and smaller urban towns and interacted with State government officials. The visit would help the members to see for themselves the working of Central-funded schemes, Mr. Salim said. The team had earlier visited Bhubaneswar before coming to Chennai. Here, they visited the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s water treatment plant at Chembarambakkam, the construction of houses in Kunrathur town panchayat under the JNNURM’s basic services for urban poor and an exhibition of products made by women self-help groups that were assisted through Swarna Jayanthi Sahari Rozgar Yojana, he said. Mr. Salim, also CPI(M) MP, said there was a huge gap between urban amenities available in Chennai and its suburbs and this had to be bridged.

Like any other city, Chennai, too, has its problems relating to solid waste management and traffic congestion.

The committee comprised five other MPs from Lok Sabha and four from Rajya Sabha. Senior officials from the Ministry were also present .

The State government was represented by K. Allauddin, Highways Secretary and Secretary (incharge) of Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply, J.C. Senthil Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Municipal Administration, and Shiv Das Meena, Managing Director, Metrowater, among others.

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